Britain’s King Charles III urged industry leaders to find ways of controlling AI “before it’s too late” on Thursday, calling the pace of development “both intriguing and deeply concerning,” as he opened a summit that he convened.

“There seems urgency in adequately considering the existential dangers of such technologies falling into the wrong hands, and being used in potentially catastrophic ways,” he said. “Surely, we need sufficient means of control before it is all too late?”

His comments come amid dire warnings from whistleblowers and some industry leaders about the potential dangers of AI, and calls for the pace of its development to be slowed.

Charles acknowledged the immense potential of AI, particularly in medicine, before urging attendees to discuss ways in which the technology can be used “for good.”

British royals tread carefully when venturing into complex policy areas. Constitutionally bound to remain above politics, they can spotlight problems, but not necessarily suggest any ways to solve them.

Charles is making his entry into the world of AI as a convener rather than an actor, hosting senior figures from AI companies, government and charities at this summit at Dumfries House near Glasgow in Scotland.

Charles, 77, only attended the summit for 20 minutes before leaving to allow for what he said he hoped would be “productive” discussions. Several significant figures from the AI world are attending, including the UK’s AI minister Kanishka Narayan and representatives from Nvidia, Google DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic, though it’s unclear who these companies sent. Buckingham Palace had said China would also be represented, without giving more detail.

Nvidia’s chief executive Jensen Huang, Google DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis and Paolo Benanti, an AI adviser to the Vatican, are also present.

Benanti’s presence underlines the role religious leaders have played on this issue. In an encyclical published in May, Pope Leo XIV said AI must not remain in the hands “of a few.” Charles’ remarks were similarly imbued with Christian symbolism; “our humanity must remain sacred,” he said.

“Those in our world who value deeply our humanity and its vital moral component are anxiously seeking your reassurance that we will not lose control of our destiny, or our souls,” he said.

Protecting privacy

The monarch has rarely spoken about AI before. When he has, it has matched the cautionary tone he struck today. The technology presents “profound challenges,” he said in a taped address at the UK’s AI Safety Summit in 2023, calling on attendees “to protect people’s privacy and livelihoods… to secure our democracies from harm and to ensure the benefits of new technology are shared by all.”

Similarly, he referenced the importance of harnessing AI so it “works for our societies, not against them” in a speech at a gathering of Commonwealth heads of government in 2024.

Still, Charles’ entry into the debate around one of the biggest current issues is perhaps unsurprising since he has made a habit of referencing existential challenges facing humanity, most notably regarding climate change and the environment.

The United Kingdom occupies a slightly awkward position in terms of AI safety. It has some of the world’s leading universities and the respected AI Security Institute, but its influence is limited, given that the most advanced AI models are being developed in China and the United States. Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that Anthropic – one of the world’s leading AI companies – didn’t submit its latest model to the institute for testing for the first time.

AI safety concerns

While this summit would have been planned months in advance, its timing is apt. AI safety has dominated headlines in recent days, prompted first by Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon quitting his job and saying, “the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” Then, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for slowing “the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models.”

“(Coxon) was calling out the dynamic of the industry as a whole moving too fast,” Amodei later told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, arguing that taking the “right paths” of AI development would lessen the existential threat it poses to humans.

Two of his direct competitors, Open AI chief executive Sam Altman and Elon Musk, both said they agreed with Amodei.

“When we talk about ‘pacing,’ we do not mean ‘stopping,’” Altman added in a post on X on Monday. “Progress has been rapid and will continue to be. But it should be slower than it otherwise could be; interventions like safety cases and monitoring have significant costs.”

This rare instance of public unity among three of the industry’s leading figures comes shortly after OpenAI, Meta and Anthropic all reported rogue AI agents escaping their lab environment during testing and hacking into another organization. (CNN)